Reborn with the Rinnengan
by Newland Archer
Summary: Naruto goes back in time, and finds himself in the time of the Second Shinobi World war in Nagato's body. Watch as he and his fellow Ame orphans change the world. [Minato X Kushina] Other pairings undecided. Rated M just in case. ON HIATUS.
1. Going Back

Summary: Naruto is sent back in time by the Rikuduo Sennin to the time of the Second Shinobi world war. He wakes up in Nagato's body and with the Rinnengan. Naruto, travels with Konan, Yahiko, for sometime before meeting up with Jiraiya, and leaving for Konoha. There he meets Kushina, his fellow uzumaki, and changes the future for the better. Pairings: [Naruto X Mikoto] [Konan X Yahiko] [Kushina X Minato]

Emptiness. The world seemed to stop still for a moment. all around him, there were sounds of screams, horrible bone-wrenching screams. Shinobi crying out for their fallen comrades. Others trying to rally the last of the troops. He felt someone calling out to him, saying his name repeatedly. He thought it might have been Kurama, but the voice sounded as if it were coming from a million miles away.

Naruto senses seemed to be slowly shutting down, refusing to believe what was in front of them. Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke was lying face down. His hair was stuck up in its usual duck butt fashion. Had Naruto been able to use his body, he would have laughed at the fact that even now, Sasuke's hairstyle remained ridiculous.

He wore a black high collared shirt with the Uchiha sign on the back, proudly displayed for the entire world to see. His sword lay in his limp hand, coated in his enemies' blood. Yet it lacked the lightning cloak around it that made it sparkle and sing so dangerously.

His face, even now was impassive, yet there seemed to be a peaceful air around him, as if he had finally resigned himself to his demons, and found some last measure of contentment. You could almost believe that he was simply sleeping and about to wake up.

That was if you ignored the large gaping hole through his heart, even now profusely bleeding, and if you ignored the dead look in his eyes, and the lack of movement in his chest that in a normal person would be a harbinger of breathing, of life.

Naruto realized that he was going into shock, but he didn't care anymore, he didn't care about anything. He had been ecstatic when Sasuke came to help them. He had thought that after long last, they might end this war once and for all and achieve peace. No, not peace.

Achieving peace had been the dream of the old Naruto Uzumaki, the one who had been naive and blind to the real world, blind to the horrors of war. That Naruto had truly believed that people could put aside their differences forever and live together in harmony.

He had stupidly believed that his dream was coming true when he saw the villages banding together to fight Madara, putting aside old feuds to unite and deal with a common threat.

However, as the war had gone on, his eyes were forcefully opened. He had observed his fellow shinobi, and seen the farce they were displaying. While they cooperated enough on the battlefield, where it was kill or be killed, they cooperated enough, in the safety of their own camp, they behaved completely differently.

They all wore the same headband, yet they lived in arrangements similar to their old villages. Any shinobi from a separate village was treated with suspicion and dislike. Old grudges still festered, and were expressed through foul words and gestures for the moment.

Even after these observations, Naruto's eyes remained closed, no he kept them closed. However, even his legendary determination couldn't keep his eyes closed forever. He realized that even now, the cycle of hatred continued to fester, to feed, and it was impossible to kill it, it could only be suppressed.

After all, since the dawn of mankind, since the dawn of the cycle of hatred, people have been trying to end the cycle of hatred and usher in an era of peace. Hagoromo Ootsutuki tried, his son Asura tried, Hashirama tried, even he tried, yet they all failed. Sure, all of them had instated temporary peace. For a time, people were chummy with each other and got along. This was only because that was the will of the aforementioned people.

The most powerful beings in existence willed peace, and so their will was followed. However, this was but an enforced peace, while not the intention of the enforcers, this was the end result. Each of these people was able to suppress the cycle of hatred for a while, but it cannot be contained forever.

It is like the concept of yin and yang, while there may good in this world, the instinct that inspires selflessness, nobility, bravery, and generosity, there is also evil that inspires hate, vengeance, selfishness, corruption. One side would be meaningless without the other, and thus no one side can prevail.

Both are locked in an eternal embrace to the death, battling for dominance and gaining momentary victories. However, the battle would continue forever more. Hagoromo vs the Jubi, Asura vs Indra, Hashirama vs Madara, and Naruto vs Sasuke, all living manifestations of this struggle, and a symbol of its infinite and everlasting nature.

The only way to end this cycle would be to end all that was good and evil, for where one existed, the other would follow. Only when every last human being, every last creature capable of intelligence was wiped out, would this cycle truly end. Even that would be pointless.

What was the point of peace if everyone was wiped out? That was what made Madara's plan truly stupid. He planned to enslave everyone, but if everyone was about to die, then what was the point of achieving "peace" in the first place.

All these thoughts and more flew through Naruto's head like a whirlwind as he lay motionless in front of Sasuke's body. He did not know when he had begun thinking so, or when he had finally accepted that there was no such thing as true, everlasting peace, that his goal was but a facade.

He supposed it had started when Kaguya stabbed Sasuke through the chest. That had been one of the most disconcerting moments in Naruto's life. Sasuke and he had finally come up with a plan. Kaguya had seemed invincible. She was a self-proclaimed goddess and seemed to have the power to back up the claim. All had seemed hopeless, Naruto had begun to loose hope.

Then the Rikuduo Sennin himself had come before him and Sasuke, proclaimed them to be the re-incarnations of his sins, and then given them his powers to save the world. He had told them how dangerous Kaguya was, but had also told them of the one way to defeat her: the Yin-Yang sealing.

By combining Sasuke's Yin power and his own Yang power, they should have been able to seal Kaguya away for eternity, or at least until another idiot unleashed the Infinite tsukuyomi. However, they had underestimated Kaguya, and before they could successfully seal her away, she managed to fatally strike Sasuke, literally ripping his soul away and ensuring that it was now impossible to seal her away.

He had watched as she stabbed him brutally through the heart, his best friend falling from his perch, helpless to do anything to save himself. Just as helpless as Naruto now was to do anything.

He couldn't bring Sasuke back, not even the Rinnengan could do that with Kaguya now in possession of Sasuke's soul. He couldn't seal Kaguya away since that only way to do that required Sasuke, and Sasuke was dead. He couldn't hope to defeat Kaguya through sheer strength since she was a being whose power made his look like that of an Academy student compared to the likes of Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha.

Just then, something inside Naruto broke. It was hopeless he realized, for the first time in his life, he truly had no hope, no chance of coming out on top.

Naruto heard a voice calling to him, the words were fuzzy to him, his senses still in shutdown mode from shock.

"Naruto!"

"Naruto!"

"For Kami's sake Naruto, get up! You can't give up yet."

Naruto somehow managed to move, his muscles obeying some unconscious order to get a better view of who was speaking to him. It was Sakura.

She looked terrible. Her clothes and jonin jacket were shredded in multiple places. Her pink hair, once luxurious and vibrant was now dull and grimy, exhibiting none of its previous luster. Her eyes had bags underneath them, and her stooped posture and weak grip showed that she was on the brink of exhaustion despite how hard he tried to hide it.

Behind her, smoke rose in large, lazy curls. The shinobi forces seemed to be in full retreat, trying desperately to escape Kaguya who was decimating anyone who stood in her way, but was more that content to watch as most scurried away.

That was until roots burst out of the ground and quickly ensnared most of the shinobi, trapping them in the Infinite Tsukuyomi and slowly draining their chakra away. The shinobi forces were being enslaved. The kages were on their last breaths, and now Sasuke, their last chance at redemption, was dead. Naruto chuckled humorlessly.

Sakura in her weariness had yet to recognize the body of her dead teammate among the many corpses that littered the area. To her, the most important objective was to get Naruto on his feet so he could fight kaguya, and win this battle. She was about to hit him to jolt him into cognizance, when she heard him chuckle.

Of all the things she was expecting, this had not even crossed her mind. Naruto was laughing, what was going on? His allies were dying in front of his eyes, and he was just sitting there, acting as if he was dead. Staring off at...

Oh god. She saw him then. Sasuke Uchiha, the other member of Team 7 and Naruto's best friend. She understood then why he was so distracted, but she couldn't let him wallow in his grief. They needed him to fight Kaguya right now, he was the only one who even stood a chance against her.

"Naruto!" she called once again. He didn't respond, but continued to stare blankly at the still body of Sasuke. Ugh! This wasn't working. Naruto seemed lost, confused, tired, all not good things at the moment.

BOOM! An explosion rang out in the night, muffling the screams of hundreds of shinobi. It gave of a brilliant glow, brightening the dim, red light of the setting sun.

"Come on Naruto. You can't give up now. You need to get up and fight. What happened to the Naruto Uzumaki that would never give up? What happened to your dreams of being Hokage? What happened to world peace?!" Sakura shouted. She was fairly hysterical at this point. Naruto seemed mute to the world. A vegetable for all purposes, yet he was the only one who even stood a chance against Kaguya.

"Those dreams died along with him." His voice was croaky and soft, but she still heard it. She had no need to ask who "he" was either. It was clear that Naruto seemed quite shaken up by Sasuke's death. However, all that changed when she looked into his eyes.

Naruto wasn't just shaken up, he was broken. She cursed herself. Everyone had a breaking point, and as incredible as it might seem, so did Naruto. She had become so used to viewing Naruto as invincible that to see him in such a state was an absolute shock to her.

From birth, Naruto's greatest strength was his indomitable will. The orphanage kicked him out at the age of 4. He was forced to grow up on his own, without any guidance or love. The villagers and even the shinobi were in contempt of him for something that was completely out of his control, and something that, at the time, he was clueless about.

Not only that, but he had no chance at making friends since all the parents of children his age told their children to stay away from him. He had a a terrible childhood, and his troubles didn't even end there.

In the Academy, the teachers refused to teach him properly, and in fact sabotaged his education because they believed him to be the 'demon child'. When he got onto a genin team, his lazy sensei didn't teach him anything, instead favoring their traitorous uchiha teammate. This was the same sensei who was the student of Naruto's father; Naruto's father who pretty much raised up Kakahi like his own son after Kakashi's father's death.

Then he was faced with impossible challenges left and right, from C-ranked turned A-ranked missions to facing S-ranked shinobi and crazed jinchuriki as a genin. Life just never seemed to give Naruto a break.

Yet, despite all this, Naruto never gave up. He continued to survive and even thrive. He remained a bundle of joy that shone like the sun, constantly sporting a smile so bright, it could light up an entire room. He never let any hint of his troubles show on the outside.

Every time he faced a struggle, every time he was knocked up, every time someone thought he was defeated for good, he just got back up, and continued fighting. He never stopped fighting, never stopped smiling, never stopped believing in his dreams, except for now.

Now, those blue eyes of his, normally so vibrant and sparkling, seemed to be shattered. Naruto's indomitable will had been shattered. Looking back, Sakura realized that this was not a sudden event caused by overwhelming grief at Sasuke's death. Sasuke's death was simply the catalyst for something that had been building up for a long time.

Naruto may not have showed it, but he had suffered greatly in the war. While Naruto was not forced to kill anyone himself(White Zetsu's and Edo Tensei's don't count. They are dead, so its like killing people in a video game. Nobody really feels any guilt for killing people in a video game.), he was forced to watch as thousands of fellow shinobi were killed around him.

He watched on as his friends were killed in front of his eyes, one by one. He held their broken, bleeding bodies in his arms, helpless to save them, and watched as the light faded from their eyes. So many comrades dead, so many families buried.

The deaths hit Naruto especially hard since he blamed himself for each and every death. He always believed that had be been stronger, had he been faster, had be been smarter, he could have saved them. Every death simply added to the weight he bore upon his shoulders, every death seemed to dim the light in his eyes, every death seemed to hide his smile, more and more.

Sasuke's death had been the last straw for Naruto before everything came tumbling down. Despite everything, Sasuke was Naruto's best friend, the first one to acknowledge him, his eternal rival. Sasuke had been Naruto's rock throughout the years, his constant goal that came before all others. Before Sasuke's defection, Naruto's goal was to catch up to, and surpass Sasuke. After his defection, it was to bring Sasuke back once and for all and to surpass him in the ninja arts.

Sasuke's death meant the end of that dream, meant that Naruto's world had simply crumbled around him. No wonder he was so lost. He had lost his guiding light, and now with no direction, he was wandering around aimlessly, grieving for the loss of Sasuke and of his dreams.

"Naruto!" She shook him again. She understood him now, but she still needed to get him our of his funk. He was still the only one who could save them, and as heartless as it may sound, now was not the time to grieve.

She moved to hit him, to try to evoke some reaction out of him, and it seemed to work. He caught it perfectly, a result of reflexes honed to perfection in the war. His gaze bore into her own, this time with a quality of steel in it. He was angry.

"What are you doing Sakura! You should be lucky you are still alive, attacking me out of the blue! What are you doing here? Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Naruto, you can't stay here. We need you to fight Kaguya. Everyone out there is being decimated. None of them stand a chance against kaguya. With Sasuke gone, you are our best chance. Didn't you say that you had some plan to deal with her, well we need you to do that or something else right now. We need you to stop her! Don't you get it?"

He slapped her. A single strike on the cheek. It wasn't very hard, but the shock of the action was far more painful that any physical blow. Naruto, her teammate and friend had just hit her.

"No Sakura, you don't get it! Sasuke is dead! There is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do now to stop Kaguya. My plan involved Sasuke, and now that he is dead, there is nothing that we can do to stop her. I am strong, but she is a goddess. Even the Sage of the Six Paths couldn't defeat her, what am I supposed to do? "

"Do you understand Sakura? There is nothing we can do. It is hopeless. We are all going going to die, be enslaved by the Infinite Tsukuyomi while Kaguya leeches off our chakra. There is no hope left."

"What do you mean there is no hope left? Who are you? You have faced tons of situations with impossible odds and have always come out on top. You are Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja who never ever gives up and always manages to win no matter what!"

"Not this time"

"So you are just going to quit then? You won't even try?"

"What's the point?"

Sakura sunk onto her knees at that last statement. To hear Naruto so broken, so full of desperation... it was chilling. He was normally the one that lifted others spirits when they were down, but now that he was down, others fell as well without their pillar.

There truly seemed to be no hope. There was nothing they could do she realized. If even Naruto believed that there was nothing, if even he was so broken, then there really was nothing that anyone else could do.

Naruto looked away from Sakura as she slowly slumped onto the ground. She finally seemed to have realized the hopelessness of the situation. He felt a tugging sensation in the back of his mind, as if someone had caught hold of his hair, and was jerking it towards them.

He tried to ignore the feeling, but gave in to it. He appeared in a world of white, not a speck of color to break up the monotony of the area.

"Kurama, I really don't want to talk right now. Whatever you say isn't going to make a difference. I know you are going to say the same thing as Sakura-chan and insult me for being such a weakling. Just save it for now, I would rather spend my last minutes in silence."

 **"You insolent whelp. Don't compare me to that useless kunoichi. You forget who exactly I am. I may be civil to you, and even deem you better than other ningen, but that doesn't mean I will bow down to your wishes or simply watch by as you act utterly foolish."**

 **"As if I would waste my breath on trying to convince your thick skull of anything anyway. No, there is someone else who wants to speak with you. "**

"Huh, who wants to meet me here?" He turned around, and there in front of him, once again was the Rikuduo Sennin.

"Oh, it's you Sennin-Jii-San. Come to tell me what an idiot I am being?" Naruto chuckled humorlessly."Because if so, you are wasting your time. You know as well as I do that there is no way to defeat Kaguya now that Sasuke is dead."

"Indeed Naruto, I admit, there is no way to defeat Kaguya now."

"I already told you... Wait, what?! You admit that I can't defeat her. Well, then what are you here for?"

"Kaguya cannot be defeated now, she is far too powerful. However, if we were to prevent this from ever happening in the first place, if we made sure that she was never resurrected, then we wouldn't have to worry about defeating her."

"Are you out of your mind Old Man?! What do you mean prevent this from ever happening, its already happened. How would you stop something from happening that has already happened?"

"Simple. Time Travel"

Naruto sweat dropped. "Time Travel. Really? You must be even more senile than I previously thought. I mean seriously, time travel is impossible. Not saying that I haven't heard of weird, seemingly impossible things, Edo Tensei for one seems to defy all logic. But this, this is a whole new level of crazy!"

"You know, it seems that everything _you_ do is a whole new level of crazy Naruto, so this should be right up your alley."

"Whatever, so what's your crazy scheme this time. We saw how well your 'Seal Kaguya' plan went. Is this one going to be as spectacular of a _success_ as that was? Is it going to be me that dies this time instead of Sasuke?"

The Rikuduo Sennin sighed. "Naruto, I don't want to kill you. I truly apologize that the plan failed, and trust me I mourn for Sasuke too. You forget, he is the reincarnation of my eldest son. He may have different biological parents, but I still consider him and you to be my sons. Losing him is as painful, if not more, to me as it is to you."

"That being said, we cannot be allowed to dwell on our grief. It is sadly, a regular part of life."

"So what, I just forget about Sasuke. Forget the fact that he was my best friend. Forget the fact that he's DEAD!"

"I am hardly suggesting that Naruto. I am not asking you to forget Sasuke. You should definitely remember him, and cherish the memories that you have together. However, focusing only on his death is causing you unnecessary grief. Focus instead on his actions when he was still alive. Focus instead on all your positive memories together."

"Tell me, if Sasuke was here, would he want you to brood as you are doing so?"

Naruto laughed "No. He would probably call me a dobe, and then proceed to tell me what an idiot I am for moping like this. Knowing him, he would probably demand that I take vengeance against Kaguya as well"

"I would hope that he wouldn't advise you to take revenge, it is too dark a path to take. However, your description is mostly right. Thus I advise that you listen to me, for I might have a way out of this mess. As you said yourself, there is no way to defeat Kaguya now, so you might as well give my method a try. "

"Time travel?"

"Yes"

"I guess I have done crazier things in my life. So how is this going to work? Does it require anything from me? Will I remember anything when I get sent back? Will I be in my current body or in a younger one? How far back am I going? Where will I be landing?"

"Just stop!" The Rikuduo Sennin took a breath. "First I must explain how I am doing this. You see, the Rinnengan grants the user immense and unbelievable power. I even have mastery over life and death, command over souls, that actually plays a part in this. Most importantly, I also have some mastery over time, after all, I am here aren't I. I may just be a spiritual manifestation, but I do have my chakra, or some of it after I gave most of it to you both, and I do have my memories."

" I was able to traverse time due to my Rinnengan, therefore, what I plan to do is use the Rinnengan as a beacon in time, and transport your soul there."

"What? How will you transport my soul, and what do you mean use the Rinnengan as a beacon?"

"Do you remember Nagato Uzumaki? Especially the fact that he had the Rinnengan?"

"Of course I do, how could I forget him. Do you mean you will use him as an anchor?"

"Yes in a way, mainly his eyes." the Sennin said hesitantly.

"Wait, there must be some catch here. What did you mean that you would transport my soul to the beacon? What about my body? How will you transport it?"

"That's the catch, as you might say. It is a sacrifice that I am hesitant to make, but one that is necessary in order to stop Kaguya. We cannot let her be released again or she will destroy all life on earth. In order for you to time travel, I will be sending your soul to take over that of Nagato's, in turn destroying his soul and sending it to the pure world. "

"Wait, so you're saying that you are basically killing of Nagato in order to send me back in time! That's so wrong. You can't just kill him off. He doesn't deserve that. Is this because he created Akatsuki and caused this whole fiasco in the first place?"

"Naruto, this has nothing to do with his past actions. While it may be unfair to just kill Nagato off, we have no other choice. Keep in mind that Nagato is already dead, and that if you don't do this, everyone will die instead of just Nagato. "

"Think about it Naruto. No matter what, we must ensure that the world does not come to an end. Kaguya cannot simply be allowed to kill everyone. Plus, you are the only person I can send back in time. You have the Yang half of my chakra, and thus I will be able to send you back through that connection. "

Naruto looked away from the sage, struggling to come to terms with this new revelation. Did he want to do this? Moments ago, he had given up all hope of salvation, of defeating Kaguya, and now the Rikuduo Sennin was offering him a chance to fix everything on a silver platter.

It was almost to good to be true. Yet, there was no way it could be fake. It couldn't be the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the sage's chakra in him made it impossible for it to gain a true hold on him. No, this was the real deal, if it was fake, then Nagato wouldn't have to die.

That led to the other issue: Nagato's death. He didn't want to kill Nagato, in fact, if he had somehow managed to time travel, saving Nagato would have been one of the top things on his priority list. After all, Nagato always had good intentions, but was lead astray by Obito and Madara.

However, if he didn't do this, everyone would die anyway, and Nagato was already dead. When he had fought and defeated Nagato, he had died with a smile on his face. He took this as a sign that Nagato was content with what had occurred in his life. Furthermore, Nagato had initially sacrificed his life to resurrect the citizens of Konoha, so it was evident that he himself would have approved of such a decision.

If he was honest, it wasn't the decision to kill Nagato's soul that shocked him, it was the fact that this was all really happening, and he was just having a really hard time assimilating all of it.

He took another breath. He was just delaying the inevitable. He was going to accept the Sennin's offer. Of course he was, he would be a fool not to. besides, he had a feeling that the Sennin would forcefully send him back if need be. He wasn't going to let the world end because Naruto was indecisive.

"I'll do it. I'll go back in time. I will make sure that the bijuu are never captured and that kaguya never rises again. However, don't expect me to try to establish world peace. I don't believe in that anymore. If this really works, I will make sure Kaguya never rises again and will protect all my precious people. But, I do not plan on trying some foolish, impossible plan to try to establish everlasting peace. No such thing exists. Peace is but a temporary state brought upon the lands due to the wishes of those in power."

"I had hoped the war wouldn't turn your world view so negative, though I guess that there is nothing that can be done about that at the moment. I do understand your view though, while i continue to believe that peace can still exist, that ninshu can prevail, I can sympathize with your plight. "

"My mother tried to kill me and brother after she became insane with power. My wife died in childbirth. My sons forgot about my dream of peace, and instead began to fight each other, only causing conflict to erupt all around them. "

"I was watched things over the centuries that would horrify you beyond anything you have ever seen yet. Yet, I have also seen things that remind me that hope still exists, that goodness still exists in this world. I have seen acts of courage, of selflessness, of generosity, that restore my hope that one day peace can and will prevail. I have had thousands of years to digest all that I have seen and I have come to terms with it."

"You on the other hand, for all your experiences in life are still very young, and thus are quite confused. Furthermore, you have only been in war for a few weeks, the emotions in you are still fresh and are clouding your mind. i hope that in time, at the very least, you will try to achieve peace, because that is all it takes."

"If everyone in all the lands decided to pursue peace instead of war, decided to make a conscious effort to do so, then we could very well achieve the peace that you declare is impossible to achieve. Never lose hope my boy. No matter what you do, remember this, never lose hope."

"Alright, alright old man. I still think that your years are catching up to you and you are going senile. But, we can sit and discuss this for all eternity while Kaguya decimates everyone out there. Sooner or later she will notice your presence and try to stop this from happening. So, you better do whatever you need to do fast, so that it is successful. I will keep your words in mind out of respect to you, but don't expect me to act on them"

"Given the circumstances, I will not ask anymore of you."

The Sennin then went closed his eyes, and began to gather massive amounts of chakra. Being a sage, and with his new sage mode, Naruto could feel the sage drawing upon the powers of the entire world around him.

The Sage's chakra spiked, and then all his three eyes snapped open and snapped glowing. In that moment, Naruto truly understood the immense power the sage had held, it was beyond anything that he could ever have hoped. The Rinnengan truly did make one a god.

The Sage then unleashed a beam of chakra that went straight through Naruto.

"Good luck Naruto. I hope that your journey is successful and that you accomplish everything that you put your mind to."

With that, Naruto began to feel lightheaded, and slowly faded into unconsciousness.


	2. Meeting Konan and Yahiko

**Author Note: Hello Everybody, this is the second chapter of Reborn with the Rinnengan. First of all, I want to thank everyone who was read, favorited, and followed this story. It really means a lot to me as this is my first fanfiction.**

 **Author Note(5/12/16): Sorry, this is not an update. I have not been able to work on this story recently since I had two AP tests and a SAT test as well. When I got back to this however, I noticed that I needed to plan out the story line a bit more since its current direction seems to pose problems. Thus, I will be placing this story on hiatus for the time being while I get this story sorted out. This hiatus won't be that long, it will last a month at the most. I may start to work on a couple other stories as well as I have a lot of ideas at the moment, so stay tuned for those. I understand that some of you were eagerly looking forward to this story and may feel frustrated and I profusely apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. However, I feel that in doing so the end product will improve and that it will hopefully be worth the wait.**

When he opened his eyes again, he was in the ruins of a house. The walls had been blown apart at the seams, as if a massive force had pushed them apart. Splinters lay everywhere, a result of the many broken beams and splintered walls. Smoke rose from one corner of the house, a tiny fire that persisted to burn despite the lack of proper fuel.

Naruto groaned, his body seemed to to be buried under a pile of debris. He struggled to push it off, the action seemed to be much harder than normal. He looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings, and wondered how he got here. He tried to remember what exactly happened to him, but his head was still ringing. For some reason, his eyes seemed to pick up the world in far greater detail than before. He lifted his hand to brace himself against a pillar, and then froze.

The hand was tiny, and definitely not his. His hand was large, tanned, and thick, a result of years of training. This hand was far paler than his hand had ever been, tiny, and very smooth. He turned to see a puddle that had formed in a depression in the house, and went to look in it.

The sight that greeted him was nothing like his old self. He had never really known what Nagato had looked like as a child, but this was shocking. His skin was pale, almost as much as an Uchiha's. His hair was a bright fiery red, with part of it stretching over his forehead and covering up one eye. The other eye was the most surprising part.

Looking back at him were the eyes of the Samsara, the legendary dojutsu of the Sage. Purple, with four concentric rings surrounding a black dot, residing where a pupil normally would. He was dressed in a brown, baggy cloak that covered most of his frame and blocked out most of the cold.

Without a roof over his head, the rain flowed freely over him, but he was too much in shock to notice. It had worked. The Sage's jutsu had worked. He was back in time, with the body and eyes of Nagato Uzumaki. For all intents and purposes, Nagato Uzumaki was dead, his soul banished from this body.

No, Nagato Uzumaki's soul may have been banished, but he would continue to live on. Naruto Uzumaki hadn't been born yet, but now he could live on as Nagato Uzumaki. He would leave a legacy in Nagato's name, in his memory, to honor him. It was the least Naruto could do.

 **(From now on, I will call Naruto, Nagato. There will be no more Naruto Uzumaki until Kushina gives birth to him.)**

Nagato looked around him at the desolate and ruined home he was in. He smelt blood around the corner. He found a pair of shinobi lying on the ground. Both were long since dead.

Nagato was then assaulted by some memories, he saw the ninja invading his home to steal their supplies. He saw his parents foolishly trying to fight them off, but desperately failing. He remembered his father's head being chopped off with a katana. He remembered his mother being stabbed through the heart with a kunai.

He remembered the grief that he felt at their deaths, and the pure rage that had filled him. He remembered feeling a grim determination, and felt a strange power fill him. Then with a shout that was unintelligible to his ears, he caused a massive blast around him, leading him to blackout. When he awoke again, he had the soul of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze in his body.

Nagato sighed, it was no wonder that Nagato had always disliked Konoha, after all, Konoha shinobi had killed his parents. Nagato couldn't worry about that now though, he had to make a plan for the future. First, he had to determine how far back in time he was, he looked around 8 years old. He was still quite short, and his face still contained traces of baby fat. Plus his voice still had that high note to it that all children did before they hit puberty.

He decided to look around the house to salvage whatever he was able to. Without parents, he would need to fend for himself. He first went to the kitchen, as he was starving. he managed to make a rudimentary meal for himself to satiate his appetite.

Then he went back to the dead bodies. He needed to figure out a way to transport them, since leaving them here would be unsanitary and a disgrace. His parents at the very least deserved a proper burial. They may only have been the parents of his new body, but they deserved that much respect at least. Besides, they were Uzumaki, which meant that they were kin, whether he was talking about his past self or his current one.

He tried to see if the there were any sealing supplies in the house. A house of Uzumaki must surely have some sealing supplies. If he could find a simple scroll, a brush, and some ink, he could store the bodies into a sealing scroll. While he would normally have simply used a Doton jutsu to make a tomb for them, a jutsu he had unfortunately learned to use very well during the war, this body had just unlocked its chakra, and definitely didn't have that kind of control over the earth element.

He wandered into his "parents" room. It was far enough from the center of the blast that it was largely unaffected. It was sparsely furnished, with a bed in the center, a nightstand on the side, with a desk and closet on the opposite end of the room. That was were he would find his supplies. On the desk, he managed to find a high-quality brush with the initials I.U. He found an unfinished seal on the desk along with a pot of ink, and some empty scrolls. Exactly what he needed.

He paused to look at the unfinished seal. One of his regrets in his past life was never learning Fuinjutsu. Jiraiya had introduced him to the arcane art during their training trip, but he had given up after learning the bare basics such as storage scrolls and explosive tags. Not knowing of his heritage at the time, and the Uzumaki talent for seals he had seen no reason to learn Fuinjutsu, and Jiraiya had given him no reason to continue to learn it. Besides, he had been more interested in learning flashy jutsu back then anyway. He had been so naive.

With a silent promise to learn fuinjutsu this time, and continue his family's legacy, he picked up the scrolls, brush, and ink, and made his way back to the bodies. His parents had probably been dead for about a day now, if the state of their bodies was any indication. He had probably blacked out after using the Shinra Tensei, due to the immense amount of chakra he put into the attack.

Nagato realized that he must have lived in an extremely remote area, or at least one away from any ninja's since no seemed to have come to investigate the spike of chakra that surely would have been produced by Nagato's technique. This made things all the more problematic for him.

As it was, he had no ideas where he was. He was pretty sure that he was in Amegakure since that was where Nagato came from, however, where in Amegakure he was, Nagato hadn't the slightest clue. In his previous life, he had never traveled here as it was a forbidden region and nigh impossible to sneak into.

He sighed. His situation was becoming more difficult by the moment. He carefully made a couple of storage scrolls and stored his parents in them. The storage scrolls would not only ensure that he was able to carry around their bodies easily, but also would enable him to preserve their bodies for their burial.

He then went to seal the bodies of the Konoha Shinobi. However, he first stripped the bodies of any weapons, scrolls or other useful items. He manage to find a large collection of shuriken and kunai. Found a katana that was too big for him now, but could be useful later, or if he absolutely had to. He also managed to find some money on the shinobi, which would be useful. Last of all, he managed to find a scroll that indicated their mission.

Apparently these shinobi were supposed to scout Amegakure in order to prepare for an attack. This indicated that the Second Shinobi World War was already underway at this point. Nagato knew that the war had ended soon after Hanzo fought the Sannin. Judging by this report, the groundwork for that fight was being laid out.

This meant that Jiraiya and Tsunade would soon be in Amegakure. This was great! If he could find them, he could manage to persuade them to take him to Konoha. Then he could become a shinobi of Konoha again, he could protect all his precious people, all those whom he had failed so miserably.

Then it struck him that he was back in time. No, he wouldn't be able to save those precious to him, not yet. They wouldn't even be born yet. However, he could still ensure their future safety. He would never be their friend again. He would never be one of their ranks. He would never laugh with them, train with them, or live with them ever again.

Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Chozi, Tenten, Lee, Neji, Iruka sensei, Kakashi, Old man hokage, even Jiraiya. It was a sobering thought, that he didn't _know_ anybody in this timeline. He was Nagato Uzumaki, one of the last survivors of the once great Uzumaki clan and orphan of Amegakure. Even if he did integrate into Konoha's ranks, his precious people wouldn't be the same.

He would grow up in their parents generation now. The closest he would get to his friends would be as their parents friends. Their parents... Oh god, his parents were still alive, his previous parents, the parents of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. He could save them this time. He could protect them from everything that was to come. Minato would continue to lead the village as the great Hokage he once was and will be again. Kushina would be the loving mother to Naruto that she always wanted to be.

He may not be able to be a part of his friends life anymore, not as one among them anyway, but he could still save them. He could make sure that they never would have to live the strife filled lives they had last time. He would ensure that war didn't engulf all the Shinobi nations. He could ensure that they could at the very least grow up to have families of their own. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he could protect them forever. To do that, he would have to enforce absolute peace and get rid of all strife, which would simply mean the end of the ninja way. However, at least this way they wouldn't be slaughtered, and loose all of the people precious to them in an instant. He would fix everything.

If he wanted to do so, he needed a plan. The most important goal he had was to stop Kaguya from ever returning. That was the whole reason for his return. If Kaguya came back, saving everyone would be useless, since they would die anyway. In order to do that, Nagato would have to get rid of Black Zetsu. While it had been Madara and Obito that had managed to create the Juubi and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, it was Black Zetsu that led them on to do that. Without his interference, none of this would have happened in the first place.

Besides, even if he did kill Madara and Obito, it would serve no purpose. While Black Zetsu's plans would be delayed for sometime, he could always find someone else to manipulate again. Maybe not in the next year, or even the next ten years, but definitely within the next millennium or so. After all, Zetsu had been around since the age of the Sage of the Six Paths. He was immortal, and could wait longer if needed.

No, if Nagato killed Madara and Obito now, then he would never be able to find Zetsu. Thus Madara had to be killed last of all, after Black Zetsu. By coming here, Nagato had already gotten rid of the threat that Nagato once might have posed. By ensuring that Obito survived the Kannabi Bridge incident, or he didn't go on that mission period, he could save Obito. Then once he killed Zetsu, he could kill Madara, and ensure that there was no way that Kaguya would ever be able to return to the world.

However, he couldn't simply kill Zetsu. Zetsu was immortal, a manifestation of Kaguya's will and chakra much like the bijuu were a manifestation of the chakra of the juubi and the Rikuduo Sennin. Thus the only way to defeat him would be to seal him away, and the only technique powerful enough to seal him away forever was the Six Paths Yin-Yang sealing technique, a technique that Nagato had no way of using at the moment.

He had no doubt that he would be able to use it eventually. The Rinnengan granted the user the capability for Yin-Yang manipulation and coupled with the Sage's chakra in him, he should be able to gain enough control over his Yin-Yang manipulation to perform the sealing. However, in order for this to happen, he would first need to train his Yin and Yang chakra to the level of the Rikuduo Sennin.

This was going to be difficult since as an Uzumaki, his yang chakra was already very high, which made it very difficult to create a balance. Furthermore, even getting his Yang chakra up to the level of the Rikuduo Sennin would take a lot of time. His Yin chakra would be even more of a problem. So, actually going after Zetsu would take a long time.

However, even now there were a lot of things to do. While he may not believe in true and complete peace like Jiraiya or the Rikuduo Sennin, he certainly believed that the world could become less filled with bloodshed. Plus, he also planned to save all of his precious people. He could also do something about the bloodline wars in Kiri, and help his fellow jinchuuriki.

Before all that though he needed more information. Based on the information he had gotten from the ninja and what he knew about Nagato, he must be sometime during the Second World War. His parents were probably still academy students at the time.

He thought about trying to find the nearest town, but gave it up as a foolish endeavor. He was a kid with absolutely no training and a prime target for bandits. It would be far better for him to gain some method of defending himself before he set out alone in the middle of a war zone.

The time period made it all the more important since Amegakure had largely served as the battle ground for the Second Shinobi world war and thus it would be crawling with ninja, especially ninja that wouldn't hesitate to kidnap or kill a defenseless Uzumaki with the Rinnengan.

Defending himself with taijutsu was out of the question with his weak body. He would have to rely on ninjutsu, which mostly meant his wind attacks. He probably wouldn't be able to use the Rasengan yet.

The Rinnengan made things a lot easier though. For one, he didn't have to worry about affinities since he had all five. Furthermore, even though he had the trademark large Uzumaki reserves, he had perfect chakra control.

Practice was the most important component in performing jutsus in his current condition. While his fingers would need some time to practice the hand signs, it wasn't a big problem right now. However he would need to practice molding the chakra in order to successfully perform the jutsu.

Furthermore, he would have to start his taijutsu training from now on in order to train it for later. Ideally he would use weights, weight seals, or best of all, resistance seals. However, he didn't have any place, nor money to buy weights and he didn't know enough about sealing to create his own weight or resistance seals. He decided to ask Jiraiya to make some resistance seals for him once they met, since Jiraiya was a seal master, and such a seal was well within his capabilities.

Thus he started his new training routine. He would first run 50 laps around his now broken down house, 50 push ups, sit ups, crunches, pull ups, and other exercises along with some stretches as a warm up. Then he went through the katas for his taijutsu style. It was heavily based on the Frog Kumite, but also drew inspiration from the Goken, Gentle Fist, and Hummingbird styles. The style had been the perfect complement for his old body. The Goken had allowed him to use his natural strength to make each hit count. The Hummingbird took advantage of his speed and versatility in combat for fast, furious strikes. The addition of the Gentle Fist, added an element of precision to his style which allowed him to get the most effectiveness out of his strikes. It was by no means meant to be graceful or elegant, but instead brutal yet unpredictable. It was a style that even the Sharingan had trouble coping with due to Naruto's unpredictability and speed.

Nagato himself was probably more suited for ninjutsu, considering his dojutsu and chakra reserves which were large even for an Uzumaki. However, taijutsu was an essential skill for a shinobi, and one that should not be missed. Most fights tended to end quickly once the battle got to close quarters for this very reason.

So Nagato practiced his taijutsu in the mornings and afternoons in order to bring his body into shape. In the evenings, he practiced ninjutsu. Since he knew that it was essential to find information as quick as possible, and leave his current place since he was alone and a prime target for anyone, he only focused only on his wind jutsus and manipulation.

After re-mastering the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he first practiced cutting a leaf in half which only took him a couple of days due to knowing how to do it previously. He then went onto the next steps which was cutting a stone in half and cutting a kunai in half. The exercises increased in difficulty by increasing the hardness of the material since harder material required a lot more focus and control to cut. It was why masters of wind manipulation could cut through nearly anything with their wind chakra since they had practiced these exercises.

After achieving a satisfactory level of control, he then proceeded to relearn the jutsus : **Wind Release : Air Bullets, Wind Release : Gale Palm, and Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere.**

He had also spent a lot of time on his Rinnengan powers, specifically his Deva path. He still found it difficult to access the other paths, in that he could feel that there was more to the Rinnengan, but he simply couldn't use those parts yet. He hypothesized that it would simply take time for him to unlock all the paths of the Rinnengan. However, he had managed to control the **Shinra Tensei** jutsu to the point where only what he wanted was knocked over. Though he still put too much chakra into it sometimes, and completely obliterated his test dummy.

He wanted to keep his Rinnengan powers hidden for now since if anyone found out about it, and actually knew about the dojutsu, then he would be chased around by ninjas far beyond his caliber. Therefore, it was far less suspicious to use normal jutsu such as his Wind release jutsu. Also, the Rinnengan devoured a lot of chakra when used and while he was not lacking in chakra, he would rather not use it all up now. He wasn't a jinchuuriki this time around, and didn't have the luxury of access to a source of unlimited chakra.

In his past life, he had thrown around S-rank jutsu as if they were D-ranks while anyone else in his place would have keeled over due to chakra exhaustion from using a single one of his jutsus. This time, he would have to be more clever and conservative with chakra use.

A month after his return, Nagato was satisfied. His body was strong enough to fend off a couple of bandits, and his jutsus would allow him to take care of weaker level ninja that he came across. If he did come across any higher caliber ninja, he planned to simply use his shadow clones to escape. he wasn't stupid, he knew when he was outclassed, and when to make a tactical retreat.

Besides, he couldn't really wait any longer, his supplies were running low, and while he could survive for sometime more time on the local wildlife, it was far more dangerous to do so since he didn't know too much about the local flora and fauna, and there were a lot of poisonous animals and plants in Amegakure. Furthermore, there was little wildlife in the surrounding area, definitely not enough to last him for another month.

He decided that his best bet would be to head due east, until he came upon a road, and then follow the road to the nearest town. After a day's travel, he found the trail of a cart, clearly laden with plenty of goods. From it, he was able to deduce that a merchant must have traveled by here quite recently, and there was a possibility of Nagato catching up to him. So Nagato followed the tracks, and by reinforcing his muscles with chakra, he was able to increase his pace greatly, and within a couple of hours he was able to catch up with the civilian cart.

It wasn't too big, and only contained one merchant along with his goods. He didn't seem to have too many valuables, which was probably why he was traveling without an escort or protection of any kind. The state of his wares indicated that he was clearly going to a market to sell his wares rather than returning from a village after selling his wares. Judging by his posture, gait, and body language, Nagato knew that he was a civilian, and probably relatively harmless. The smile wrinkles on his face and the twinkle in his eye showed that he wasn't a cruel man, and would probably be kind to an orphan kid. Deciding it was wroth the risk, Nagato stepped out of his cover and went to approach the man.

"Hello there" Nagato said softly.

The man jumped in surprise, visibly startled by Nagato's sudden appearance. His reaction did not surprise Nagato, anybody would be startled at hearing a voice come out of seemingly nowhere.

"Who's there? Where are you? What are you doing here?" the merchant demanded.

Nagato moved forward so that he was in clear view of the merchant. With his sort height, and hairstyle that covered up much of his face, he cut a shy, demure, and nonthreatening figure. Exactly the sort of image he wanted to pose.

"Relax, I mean you no harm. I couldn't help but notice you while I was on my way, and notice your wares. I assumed that you are were going to go to a town to sell your wares. Is this true?"

"Yes, that is. I plan to go to Otafaku Gai (I just made this city up, not sure if there is an actual town like this in the canon) to sell my wares. "the main warily said. He had let down his guard slightly at seeing that Nagato was a child, and a scrawny and short one at that. However, he must have had some experience with shinobi before, because he was still wary, whereas anyone who didn't know that even a child shinobi could be deadly would have completely let down their guard around him.

"If that is so, would you mind if I travel with you. My parents recently died when ninja invaded our home for supplies, and I am now an orphan. I am trying to find a town to find a place to stay since my old home is broken beyond repair. However, I do not know the way, and have simply been blindly wandering. I would appreciate very much if you would let me ride along with you to the town, or at the very least let me walk along with you."

"You seem like a pretty decent kid, and I can tell that you really do need to get to a town since you are so thin, and your clothes are in a terrible condition. But first, you promise you won't try anything funny or try to steal from me in any way?"

Nagato inwardly scoffed. Of course he was going to state that he had no ulterior motives. What was the foolish man expecting? Honesty? While he himself did not have any ulterior motives, he couldn't help but be shocked at the man's trusting nature and naivety. Especially during wartime, it was prudent to keep one's guard up at all times.

Granted he was a civilian and Nagato himself seemed to cut an unimposing figure, but he had expected at least a little more suspicion. He mentally shrugged. He didn't know why he was getting so worked up about it. It worked out in his favor anyway.

"Of course I won't cause you any trouble" Nagato said with a brilliant smile. "I will simply travel with you until we reach town, and then I won't bother you anymore. Sound good?"

"Sound good to me, hop on kid."

Nagato sat beside the man on the cart, and the man picked up the reins, and got the horses travelling at a moderately fast face that would allow the horses to travel for a long time and eat up the miles as they traveled. As always, the ubiquitous rain kept pouring over their heads, slowly pattering on the roof of the cart. Some time into their journey, the merchant began to hum a small tune. It was a pleasant ditty that went along well along with the weather.

"Say, kid, whats your name?"

"My name is Nagato" Nagato wasn't going to give up his clan name, the fall of the Uzumaki was still a recent incident, and survivors would either be hunted down or kidnapped. The only place they would definitely be safe would be in Konoha. Which reminded him he would need to find Karin and Tayuya's parents and make sure that they never had to join Orochimaru this time around.

"What no last name?"

"No last name" Nagato agreed. The man may seem simple enough, but there was no guarantee that he would let slip to someone else that he had been traveling with an Uzumaki.

"Well, my names Kenji Totsuka. Nice to meet you kid" Nagato shook the proffered hand with some trepidation. The journey had gone silently for the most part, yet suddenly this merchant was tying to greet him. It certainly was confusing.

"Why so silent kid, you got something on your mind?"

"What? Oh. No. I was just thinking really"

"About what?"

"About the weather."

"Right..." He said disbelievingly. But he got the hint and stopped talking after that. Soon after, they reached the town. It was small compared to some of the towns he had seen in his previous life, but it wasn't among the smallest towns he had seen either. Despite all that, the town painted a grim picture. High walls with damaged parts spoke of constant raids. Six grim faced guards armed to the teeth showed the need to defend the town from invaders.

The guards seemed to be suspicious even of him, though given the condition of the town and the time period, it was not surprising. Eventually, after an extremely thorough investigation, they waived the cart through the walls of Otafaku Gai.

"Well kid, I guess this is where we part ways."

"I guess so." Nagato would miss the kindly merchant. While he had gotten on his nerves when he had begun to ask incessant questions about Nagato, he was still and extremely pleasant and kind man, often willing to share his food and supplies with Nagato.

"By the way, you really should start speaking more. I thought that all you Uzumaki were natural chatterboxes and your enthusiasm held no bounds." Nagato stiffened. This man knew he was an Uzumaki, had probably known this whole time. Had he brought him here to kidnap him, to hand him over to the local authorities.

"Relax kid, I don't plan to reveal your secret. Sadly, most people don't even remember the Uzumaki after Uzushio's fall. I only knew you were an Uzumaki since when they were around, I used to trade with them a lot. I have met many an Uzumaki in my time even though they normally stay on their island, and you have their distinctive red hair and looks. Though your eyes look kind of funny...

"Please, I hope that you will not mention the fact that I am an Uzumaki to anyone." It may have seemed a silly question to ask, but nagato was a sensor, an ability that was greatly enhanced due to his Rinnengan, which allowed him to view the chakra in all living things. He would be able to see the chakra fluctuation that signified a lie even in a civilian.

"Of course not, I am surprised that you think so lowly of me. I was good friends with many Uzumaki and you are their family. Why do you think I tried to get to know you better?" Nagato relaxed a bit at this statement. The merchant wasn't lying and he obviously held no ill intentions towards him. However, he had been foolish, and could have potentially been in the enemy's hands right now. He needed to be more careful in the future.

"Thank you Koji-san. I appreciate this." With that he took off, while Koji may not have any ill intentions towards him, he would rather stay away from him, and blend in with the crowd right now. His unkempt and scrawny appearance served him well here. Most of the citizens were similar in appearance to him. The war had obviously hit hard here. Orphans were running around the village. Adults walked around in rags, with a haggard look on their faces.

There were only a few stands that sold wares, but it seemed that even they weren't having much success. No one seemed to have the money to buy anything. He wondered how Koji planned to sell his wares. His question was answered when a ninja with an Ame headband walked by. The ninja was clearly well fed and well clothed.

It was apparent that this village then must have had its taxes increased greatly by Hanzo for the war effort. many kages would often increase the funding for their ninja in times of war at the expense of their civilian citizens. He had never experienced a normal war in Konoha, were it was Konoha against the other villages. In the Fourth Shinobi War, the five villages had worked together so funds had never been much of an issue.

It angered him to see the ninja act as he was the lord of the civilians, and push them out of his, way, but there was nothing he could do. Any action would simply draw attention to himself and the civilians, further exacerbating their situation. As he walked along, he tried to find an inn. While most inns would never let a minor in, he doubted that a place as rundown as this would care who came in and and who left as long as they didn't cause trouble.

An inn would be the best place to find information due to all the people with loose tongues It was amazing what alcohol could do to even an experienced shinobi. He had seen even jounin spill their villages deepest secrets at times if they were sufficiently drunk. It was a reason why he never touched the stuff. That and, in his past life he hadn't been capable of being drunk anyway. The fox had flushed out any alcohol out of his system immediately.

He heard a tiny voice calling to him. He looked around and he was startled. Looking at him shyly seemed to be a chibi-Konan. She had the distinctive blue hair, the brown eyes, the heart shaped face, and tiny lips. Her skin was pale as it one day would be.

"Do you have any food?" She asked shyly.

He smiled. He was glad that he had found her. She had been one of Nagato's closest friends last time, and he would take care of her this time. For the old Nagato.

"Whats your name?"

"Konan. I don't know my last name. I am an orphan and I never knew my parents." That sealed it. This was Nagato's Konan.

"Konan, that's a nice name. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, very hungry" She indeed looked as much. Her clothes hung baggily on her thin frame. The skin f her skin was stretched tight, highlighting her cheekbones. She obviously hadn't eaten in a long time.

"Is that so, I think I might have something for you" He smirked inwardly. He could tell that this was a trap. Konan was too tense, her chakra fluctuating wildly, her eyes darting here and there, looking for possible escape routes. Behind him, he sensed another chakra presence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a younger version of Pein's Deva Path, without the piercings of course.

It was a decent plan. Konan would distract the target with her shy nature and cuteness that would cause the target to lower their guard, and then Yahiko would strike and make of with the goods They probably had a hideout somewhere where they would meet up later to share the goods. They were probably smart enough to know not to go after shinobi, but a weak, obviously lost child like him must have provided a prime target. He decided to go along with their charade.

They first needed him to reach for his pouch. They would snatch it from him as he was reaching for it, as that is when the target's guard would be the lowest. Unfortunately for them, it wouldn't make a difference even if their heist was successful. All of his supplies were stored safely away in storage scrolls, and these two would have no idea of how to access the supplies within. Heck, even some chunin didn't know how to use storage seals.

As he reached for his pouch, Yahiko dived for the scroll and snatched it out of Nagato's hands. They didn't have the time or luxury to wonder about the fact that he had reached for a scroll, not a pouch like most people would. They didn't have time to register the shadow clone hidden behind a corner that was following Konan, the person who would let down her guard since she was unlikely to be chased. They certainly didn't register the small smile that showed up on Nagato's face after Yahiko had gone running down the street, rushing to try to escape and prevent a shinobi from coming after him.

Yahiko ran with everything he had, arms pumping, legs churning. His breath came out in short ragged gasps. He kept flitting from corner to corner, alleyway to alleyway. Occasionally jumping over a fence or two as a shortcut. He looked back to make sure that the victim was chasing him. The red-haired boy was still far away, but shouting indignantly.

Good, that was good. If he was chasing him, that meant Konan was safe. Konan wasn't as fast as him, or as stealthy as him. It was why he was chosen as the thief, and she acted as a distraction. She was a far better distraction than him anyway. Jumping over the last fence and making sure that the red haired boy was nowhere in sight, Yahiko ran to the abandoned monastery and entered the room that he and Konan used as their hideout. Now he just had to wait for Konan.

Konan ran away from the scene as fast as she could. When Yahiko had stolen the scroll from the shinobi, she had frozen up at first. When had suggested stealing from the red haired boy, she had initially refused. While the boy seemed like an easy picking, he was about their age and looked lost. She could empathize with him, and didn't want to steal from him and leave him penniless. However, hunger had trumped over her mind in the end, and since there didn't seem to be any other potential targets around, they were forced to choose the red haired boy.

So when they had stolen from him, she was shocked to see a tiny smile on his face. Who smiled when they were being robbed?! However, she quickly dismissed it as a trick of the light, survival instincts kicking in, and she ran for all that she was worth. She needed to get away as fast as she could. Normally, people would be distracted by Yahiko and run after him, but a smart few realized that she must have been serving as a distraction and had chased after her instead. They had had a few lucky calls, but so far, no one had managed to catch them.

She entered the hidden room in the abandoned monastery to see a grinning Yahiko.

"Did you find out what he had yet?"

"No, I was actually waiting for you, Konan. We always open our treasure together."

"Is till don't understand why you call them your treasure. It's just supplies, stuff that we need to survive."

"Ah, but this treasure is paying for the greatest gift of all, the gift of life. Konan giggled. Yahiko was always a tad poetic and over dramatic. Yet, this facet of his personality had been a great asset to them ever since they had met. Yahiko always managed to lift her spirits and brighten the day. He was like the annoying big brother that she never had.

"Alright, alright, stop being so dramatic Yahiko. Open it up, I am starving."

"Alright" Yahiko pulled open the scroll, but was confused when he only saw the seal.

"Hey! What's going on here. There are only squiggly lines on this. There's no food. Wait, maybe the food is inside the paper. Or.. its somehow hidden in the wrappings, or..."

"Yahiko, is it possible that you grabbed the wrong thing. He may not have been reaching for the scroll. Or maybe the food was underneath the scroll in his pack, and he was removing this first."

"Hey, there's no way I messed up. I always did it perfectly before." This was true Konan mused. While Yahiko could be a bit dimwitted at times, he always managed to steal the food perfectly and escape without incident. In fact, the whole plan had been his idea. He was great when it came to pranks or thieving.

"Maybe he knew you were there, and tried to trick you?"

"Impossible, there's no way he could have spotted me. I was perfect." He began trying to stretch the paper to try to somehow magically make the food appear.

"Actually, I did know that you were trying to steal from me. You are good I will admit, for an inexperienced kid, but you will have to do better against me."

Both Konan and Yahiko jumped at that. They had been so absorbed in the scroll that they hadn't noticed someone sneak up on them. They were shocked, they were sure that they had left the red haired boy far behind. Yet, there he was, calmly stepping out of the shadows with a smirk on his face.

"I assume you still haven't managed to get the food from that scroll. Please don't damage it, it really does contain my supplies in it, and if you will give it back to me, I will even show you."

Yahiko got in front of Konan and then shouted. "No way! What are you doing here? How did you follow us here? I was sure that I left you a long way back. "

"You can't really fool me Yahiko. My parents were ninja and I picked up some skills. Your evasion tactics are good, but I have seen far better."

At the word ninja, both Yahiko and Konan stiffened. They had always purposely targeted civilians. While the older civilians were fast and could be dangerous, it was rare to be caught, and at first they would get away with a beating. However, ninja were dangerous. It was an unspoken rule that you never messed with ninja. Even a ninja that was only about 8 years old, as old as the boy seemed to be, could take a civilians life with ease.

Yahiko knew that if this really was a ninja, then he could very well kill both Yahiko and Konan easily. However, he wasn't planning to let that happen. He would serve as a distraction, and he might even die, but he would make sure that Konan managed to escape. They had only been together for one year, but circumstances had forced them together, and they had developed a bond as close as those as blood siblings. To him, Konan was the little sister he had never had, the one he would protect no matter what.

"If you think I am going to let that scare me then you got another thing coming mister. I don't care if you are a ninja, if you don't leave me and Konan alone, I will beat you up"

Nagato laughed, and Yahiko faltered. He had expected many things, a boast about how strong he was, a derisive sneer for Yahiko's foolishness, maybe even an attack, but definitely not laughter. Yet, the red headed boy was now clutching his stomach in laughter, as if the situation was amusing to him. He eventually stopped, and dried a tear from the edge of his eye.

"I am sorry. I mean you no harm, and I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Nagato Uzumaki. Want to be friends?"


End file.
